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In 2009, the Buckeyes should root for Michigan
Sunday, November 23, 2008
So, Ohio State trounced a downtrodden Michigan football team. And every Buckeyes win over the Wolverines is worth celebrating for an OSU fan.
Perhaps some scarlet and gray supporters are reveling in Michigan's meltdown to a horrible 3-9 season. OK, feel good for a second.
Now stop. A bad Michigan team is bad for the Big Ten and bad for Ohio State. Why, you ask?
For better or worse, Ohio State is defined by Michigan and vice versa. Rivalries are best when both teams have success.
Sure, Michigan is still ahead in the all-time series and OSU is rolling in the rivalry under Jim Tressel. But beating a 3-9 team at home is no great accomplishment.
In the future, national pundits will continue to downgrade the Big Ten if Michigan stays bad or is just mediocre.
The perception of the Big Two and Little Nine may not be true anymore, but you want your conference to be seen as rugged at the top.
If OSU is joined only by Penn State and one other yearly surprise as contenders, the polls and computers will belittle the Big Ten.
When Notre Dame struggles, it brings down Notre Dame. When the Wolverines or Buckeyes struggle, they bring down a conference.
In this era of Big 12 and Southeastern Conference teams packing the top 10, Ohio State can't afford for Michigan to be bad for long.
A Big Ten title doesn't have the cache it once did. Sure, it's still the goal in Columbus and rightly so.
But those Buckeyes fans who think a national title game every other year is a realistic objective better hold their noses and root for the maize and blue next year — at least until game day.
